Heater



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 31, 1942.

M. w. BARNES HEATER Filed April 29, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 3l, 1942 HEATER Marion W. Barnes, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Universal Oil Products Company, Chicago, Ill., a

corporation of Delaware Application April 29, 1939, Serial No. 270,897

(Cl. 11o-l) 2 Claims.

The invention particularly refers to an improved form of furnace of the type which is divided into a plurality of cells or compartments by one or more interior partition or bridge walls and is more specifically concerned with improveshown in Figs. 1 and 2, thissection being taken K in the plane' indicated by line 3-3 in Fig. 2.

ments in the construction of said partition or bridge walls which materially-simplify construction of the heater, reduce. its cost and prolong its useful life by protecting these walls against damage thereto resulting from the high temperatures to which they are subjected in service.

Heretofore, bridge walls and partition walls exposed to high furnace temperatures on one or both sides thereof have been constructed as a relatively thick solid wall composed of a plurality of courses of re brick or other refractory shapes or as a double wall composed of two spaced vertical courses of refractory shapes supported or suspended from structural metal members disposed within the space provided between the two courses, the structural supporting members either being constructed of high temperature alloys or cooled by passing air through the space in which they are disposed.

This general type of construction is materially simplified in the present invention by providing a solid wall of interlocking refractory shapes or blocks with openings provided therethrough for the reception of tubular elements upon which some of the blocks are strung, with provision for passing air through the tubular elements to cool the same, the air thus heated preferably being supplied, as preheated air for combustion, to one or more combustion zones of the heater.

There is a material saving in labor with the improved type of partition or bridge walls herein provided, due to the simplified manner in which it is supported and due to the fact that the refractory shapes or blocks may be laid up dry (without refractory cement or mortar).

The accompanying diagrammatic drawings illustrate one specific form of multiple-cell heater incorporating partition walls of the improved type herein provided and will serve to yillustrate the features of the invention, although it should be understood that, in its broader aspects, the invention is applicable to many other specific forms and types of heaters and that various modifications of the specific details of construction of the partition wall illustrated may be lernployed without departing from the scope of the invention.

Fig. 1 of the drawings is a vertical cross-section of a heater incorporating the features of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of a portion of the same heater, the section being taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, the heater here illustrated is of the type now generally known as a two-cell, down-fired, equinux heater. The main furnace structure comprises refractory side walls I and 2, roof 3 and end walls, one of which is indicated at 4 in Fig. 2. The side and end Awalls are preferably formed of refractory blocks hung in any` desiredwell known manner from supporting structural members 5 andi by means of suitable clips of any well known form, not illustrated. Roof -3 is preferably also of the suspended type, the refractory shapes which form the roof being hung by suitable well known means, not illustrated, from the overhead structural members l and 8 which are, in turn, supported by the vertical structural members 5.

and 6.

Preferably, insulation indicated at 9 is provided between the refractory outer walls of the furnace and the structural steel framework and' the entire furnace may, when desired, be housed by means of steel sheets or panels of other suitable material, such as indicated at I0, attached by well known means, not illustrated, to structural members 5. The roof II of the housing comprises in the case here illustrated, a monolithic slab or precast slabs of suitable insulating material such as a mixture of cement and calcined shale, the roof slab or slabs being supported by beams land 8. h

The interior of the heater is divided by means of partition wall I2 into two cells I3 and I4, each of which contains a vertical bank I5 of horizontally disposed tubes I6 located centrally in the cells between the side wall and the partition wall, the tubes extending between the end walls of the heater and being connected outside the heated zone by suitable headers or return bends not indicated.

Each of the cells I3 and I4 terminate at their lowery ends in a fluid heating zone I1 of smaller cross-sectional area than the upper portion of the cell and a tube bank I8 comprising a plurality of horizontal rows of horizontally disposed tubes I9 as provided in each of the fluid heating zones.

A row of suitable burners 20 is provided adjacent each of the side walls I and 2 and adjacent opposite sides of partition I2, the burners communicating through firing ports 2| provided in the roof of the heater with zones I3 and I4 and disposed to direct flames and hot combustioncondition and transmit heat to the opposite sides I of each of the tubular element I6 of banks I5.

The combustion gases which have given up a substantial portion of their heat by radiation and convection to the tubes of bank I5 pass downwardly through uid heating zones I`I in direct contact with the tubular elements of banks I8 and are discharged from the lower portion of zone Il through suitable flues indicated at 22 to a stack, not shown.

The novel features of the furnace illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 reside in the form and construction of partition wall I2. This wall comprises a plurality of refractory blocks 25 preferably assembled with the vertical joints between the blocks in adjoining courses staggered, as indicated in Fig. 2, and preferably laid-up dry (i. e., without mortar or furnace cement). The entire weight of the wall rests, in the particular case here illustrated, upon a suitable A frame 26 of structural metal members from which the re-` fractories, forming the sloping portions 21 of the partition wall, are also supported by means of suitable clips, not illustrated. A suitable concrete pier, or the like, may, when desired, be substituted for the metal A frames 26 or any other suitable form of support may be provided/ for the partition Wall and Walls 211 A plurality of vertical tubular members 28 extend through aligned openings 29 provided in blocks 25 from the supporting member 2 6 to and through roof 3 of the heater, these tubes being anchored adjacent their bottom ends by welding or in any other suitable manner to members 39 of the supporting structure 26 and are slidably engaged with and guided at their upper ends by collars or guide rings 38 spaced apart and anchored by means of members 3| to beams 1. Suitable thimbles 32 are preferably provided at the points where tubular members 28 pass p through the roof 3 and the tubular members 28 are free to expand and contra'ct longitudinally upon heating and cooling and serve to keep the blocks 25 of wall I2 in alignment but do not support the weight of these blocks.

It will be noted, with. reference to Figs. 2 and 3, that the adjoining vertical edges of blocks 25 are interlocked by suitable corresponding protrusions and indentations in the end surfaces of the blocks such as indicated, for example, at 33. Many other forms of interlocking or registering means may be provided within the scope of the invention, but preferably such means are integral with the blocks, rather than auxiliary members. Due to this interlocking feature the tubular members 28, which serve to align the blocks, may be spaced a distance apart corresponding to the length of the two or more of the individual blocks, thus minimizing the number of tubular elements required. It should also be noted that, as here illustrated, the openings 29 provided through the blocks are preferably located at a distance from the adjacent end of the block corresponding to approximately onefourth of the length of the block so that by reversing the blocks end-for-end in adjacent horizontal courses throughout the wall, these openings are kept in alignment when the blocks are laid-up in staggered pattern.

Although, in the case here illustrated, some of the blocks 25 are provided with openings 29, while others are not, it is entirely within the scope of the invention, for the sake of uniformity, to employ blocks which have such openings even where they are not employed for the reception of' tubular members 28. The shape of openings 29 may be either circular or elongated, as

shown, when aligning members of tubular crosssection are employed, and in either case, are sufflciently larger than the tubular members to a1- low for irregularities in the blocks and facilitate alignment of the openings for the reception of the tubular members.

The form of members 28 is preferably tubular in order that air'may be passed therethrough for cooling to prevent their distortion or warping when subjected, as in the case here illustrated, to relatively high temperature conditions due to firing on opposite sides of wall I2. When the conditions of service are such that cooling is not required, any other form of structural member such as an H column, I or channel may be substituted for the tubular form illustrated.

In the case here illustrated (see Fig. 2), one or a plurality of suitable openings 35 is provided in the outer housing I8 of the furnace through which air is admitted between the housing and refractory walls of the heater by regulation of damper 36 to cool the steel work including tubular elements 28 through which air passes from the space 31, in which A frame 26 is disposed, upwardly through'the tubular elements to the space 38 provided between refractory roof 3 of the heater and roof I I of the housing, from which latter zone the air, preheated in passing through members 28, is drawn into the combustion zone of the heater through burner ports 2l" by the injector action of the burners.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a furnace, an outer wall andan inner wall, said walls forming a chamber therebetween, and a partition wall, said partition wall comprising in combination a plurality of adjoining courses of refractory blocks, the abutting edges o1' the blocks in each individual course being provided With protrusions and indentations which register and interlock adjoining blocks in each course, the several courses being interlocked and retained in alignment along a common plane by structural hollow metal members extending slidably through aligned elongated openings provided in-only a portion of the blocks in each course,

said structural members extending continuously through the wall, anchoring means adjacent one end of each of said structural members and adapted lto permit free longitudinal expansion and contraction of said structural members independently of said wall, and means for forcing air through said chamber into said structural hollow metal members, thereby separately cooling the same.

2. In a furnace, an outer wall and an inner wall, said walls forming a chamber therebetween and a partition wall disposed above an air chamber, said partition wall comprising in combination a plurality of adjoining courses of refractory blocks, the abutting edges of the blocks in each individual course being provided with protru- `sions and indentations which register and interlock adjoining blocks in each course, the several courses being interlocked and retainedy in align- MARION W. BARNES. 

